Sarries stumble against Warriors
Saracens were beaten 16-11 in the Premiership on Friday, as Worcester Warriors came from behind to clinch the victory at Sixways.
The visitors had led 8-0 after 30 minutes and were seemingly in control of the game, but a spirited fightback from the home side saw them clinch a vital win in their fight against relegation.
Despite dominating the opening 40 minutes, Saracens found themselves behind on the scoreboard at the interval.
A superb try after just 10 minutes from Michael Tagicakibau has set the visitors on their way. A flowing move that started with Alex Goode stepping into the line before releasing Andy Saull and then Schalk Brits eventually ended when the Fijian wing took the ball out wide and raced home.
Goode put the conversion wide but he was on target minutes later with a penalty to give Sarries an 8-0 lead.
That was cut short on the half hour when Andy Goode struck a penalty, but on the stroke of half-time, the home side crossed the line. It started when Schalk Brits saw a clearance kick out wide charged down and when the ball was worked wide, Alex Grove made the most of a poor pass to kick the ball ahead and score. Andy Goode converted to make it 10-8 to the Warriors at the break.
The lead swapped again after the break as Alex Goode slotted a penalty from the touchline, but his namesake from Worcester responded with 60 minutes on the clock to regain the lead for the home side.
Saracens pushed for the winning score in the closing minutes but when they twice came close to the line, they lose the ball within inches of the whitewash and the home side hung on for the victory.
* In the other Friday match Wasps came away with nothing from their trip north to Sale, when a dominant performance from the home side saw them win 46-34.
Despite a spirited last 20 minutes in which Wasps grabbed two late tries to push themselves back into contention for two points from this game the clock wound down on the visitors who were to rue giving Sale far too many easy points in the first hour of the game.
The home side dominated throughout led brilliantly by the impressive halfback pairing of Dwayne Peel and Nick MacLeod.
Scorers and scorers for the Friday matches!
Worcester Warriors 16-11 Saracens
The scorers:
For Worcester :
Try: Grove
Con: Goode
Pens: Goode 3
For Saracens:
Try: Tagicakibau
Pens: Goode 2
Teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Errie Claassens, 14 Chris Pennell, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Dale Rasmussen, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Shaun Perry (captain), 8 Blair Cowan, 7 Jake Abbott, 6 Sam Betty, 5 Chris Jones, 4 James Percival, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 George Porter, 18 Oliver Tomaszczyk, 19 Craig Gillies, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 Danny Gray, 23 Ravai Fatiaki.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Michael Tagicakibau, 13 Joel Tomkins, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Nils Mordt, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert (captain), 7 Andy Saull, 6 Will Fraser, 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 George Kruis, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 John Smit.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Eoin Sheriff, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Joe Maddock, 23 James Short.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Stuart Terheege, Ashley Rowden
TMO: David Matthews
Sale Sharks 46-34 London Wasps
The scorers:
For Sale:
Tries: Tuitupou 2, Peel, Powell, Leota, Miller
Cons: Macleod 5
Pen: Macleod
DG: Macleod
For Wasps:
Tries: Waldouck, Simpson 2
Cons: Robinson 2
Pens: Daly 5
Yellow card: Jack Wallace (Wasps, 48)
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou (captain ), 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Andy Powell 7 David Seymour, 6 James Gaskell, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Andrei Ostrikov, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Tony Buckley, 19 Onosa’i Auva’a, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Cillian Willis, 22 Luther Burrell, 23 Joaquin Tuculet
London Wasps: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Dom Waldouck, 11 Jack Wallace, 10 Nick Robinson, 9 Nic Berry, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 Joe Launchbury, 5 Marco Wentzel (captain), 4 James Cannon, 3 Ben Broster, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Vladislav Korshunov, 17 Zak Taulafo, 18 Simon McIntyre, 19 Ed O’Donoghue, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Paul Emerick.
Referee: Sean Davey
Assistant referees: Robin Goodliffe, Alan Hughes
